Job Type: On-site, full-time
Location: The Nature Conservancy - Lexington, Virginia
Salary: $80,000-$90,000/year
Description:
The Allegheny Highlands Forest Recovery Director will build and oversee a large team and a budget of over $4 million/year to deliver forest restoration projects in collaboration with the US Forest Service. Their work will be focused on delivering on a forest restoration scope of work under a 10-year Disaster Recovery award with the US Forest Service. They will build and lead a team of four professional fire and forest restoration specialists. They will manage with excellence four direct reports and will be responsible for performance management, training, and career development. They will be responsible for working with contractors in both fire and forest restoration across the western mountains of Virginia. The Forest Recovery Director will work closely with the US Forest Service to prioritize silvicultural and fire projects, troubleshoot implementation challenges, and deliver results while maintaining relationships with local partners. In this 10-year term position they will sequence implementation projects across the Virginia mountains to create a steady pipeline of work. They will have administrative oversight over delivering on the forest restoration scope of work and will complete required grant reporting.
Projects will be focused on restoring fire-adapted forests with prescribed fire and silviculture, and will require skillsets in project planning, preparing teams and resources, prescription implementation, and assessments of success. The Allegheny Highlands Forest Recovery Director will have some technical skills, ideally with fire qualifications, to add to our team and will support and aid in implementation. They will play a role in our Fire Learning Networks that includes providing technical expertise, sharing lessons that we are learning, and cultivating strategic and authentic relationships with a broad variety of federal, state, and nonprofit partners. The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) forest restoration goals in the Southern Appalachian region center on enhancing the resilience, connectivity, and ecological integrity of these fire-adapted forest landscapes. By focusing on both landscape-scale restoration and targeted habitat improvements, TNC is committed to restoring the quality of forest habitats that support the extraordinary biodiversity for which the Southern Appalachians are globally renowned. The projects will be carried out in close collaboration with the US Forest Service as well as other state, non-profit, and Tribal partners.
The Allegheny Highlands Forest Recovery Director will report to the Allegheny Highlands Program Director. They will work closely with a robust team of fire practitioners in Virginia as well as working across the six state Southern Appalachian area. They will contribute as a thought leader to advancing Appalachians-wide forest resilience outcomes through TNC’s Appalachians forestry strategies and teams.
They may work in variable weather conditions, at remote location, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances. The Forest Recovery Director will be asked to work with donors as appropriate, which sometimes will include working on evenings and weekends. The position is based out of TNC’s office in Lexington with hybrid work options available. It is a full-time, ten-year term position without renewal.
Qualifications:
BA/BS degree and 5 years’ experience in natural resource management, including forestry, terrestrial ecology, fire ecology or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience managing complex or multiple projects simultaneously, including staffing, workloads and finances under deadlines.
Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives and managing performance of professional employees.
Experience in partnership development with non-profit partners, community groups and government agencies.
Experience negotiating.
Must be able to obtain the qualifications for Prescribed Fire Crew Member (RXCM) or Fire Fighter Type 2 (FFT2)(See TNC Fire Management Manual. ), including meeting the physical fitness standard of moderate or arduous (See TNC Physical Fitness Testingl)
Must have valid Driver’s License and be willing to travel to project sites.
Experience performing physical work outdoors in all conditions.
Experience using Microsoft Office; Outlook, Word, Excel, GPS and ArcGIS and/or similar applications.
Desired Qualifications:
5-7 years’ experience in Southern Appalachian Forest systems or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Proven track record of project management and organization of large scale, multi-year projects, including collaborative project sequencing and meeting deliverables on deadline.
Demonstrated experience influencing and developing collaborative priorities, for example between US Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy.
Significant, demonstrated partnership building with non-profits, government agencies, and other stakeholders to achieve outcomes.
Experienced team leader of groups of 10-20.
Experience overseeing contracts for timber stand improvement, fire line mastication, reforestation, and non-native invasive species contracts.
Experience with prescribed fire and other forest restoration practices. Qualified as a single resource boss preferred (Engine Boss (ENGB), Firing Boss (FIRB), and Crew Boss (CRWB)). Other helpful qualifications include Resource Advisor (READ), Fire Effects Monitor (FEMO), Public Information Officer (PIO), and Squad Boss (FFT1).
Knowledge of current US Forest Service policies, procedures, practices, and systems.
Demonstrated experience in public grant management and/or private fundraising.
Creativity to develop innovative and novel solutions to management challenges.
Experience communicating with excellence via written, spoken, and graphical means in English.
Politically savvy.
Multi-lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
